Supernatural Battle

1986

I want to read to you a few of the verses and maybe illustrate the real nature of the battle with satan and the absolute necessity of these divine weapons or these supernatural weapons. Daniel 10:10 “A hand touched me and sent me trembling on my hands and knees. He said (the angel said) ‘Daniel, you who are highly esteemed. Consider carefully the words that I’m about to speak to you and stand up for I’ve been sent to you.’ And when he said this to me I stood up trembling. Then the angel continued, ‘Do not be afraid Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. And I’ve come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future for the vision concerns a time yet to come.’” You see the passage here and in the last verse of that chapter, he says, "No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.” He speaks of a specific angel, Michael an archangel that was assigned to Daniel—Michael, your prince. And there's a war going on here. For twenty-one days Daniel is praying and fasting. And while that is going on Daniel was saying, ”God, why aren’t you answering my prayers?” And he’s thinking, “Well, this is just my prayer. It’s just not working out. Maybe God’s ignoring me or maybe God’s not really up there.” Meanwhile, there’s this massive war going on in the heavens between angels. Finally, Michael the archangel comes and strikes down the principality, the prince of Persia. Now the angel can go through with the answer to Daniel’s prayer. This is an amazing thing! Your prayers are not just words hung on the walls. For there’s a spirit of supernatural spiritual realms that you need to understand if you are going to be able to do battle in the supernatural areas. And it takes spiritual weaponry to be able to do that.

In Acts chapter 19, you see something again that indicates the supernatural nature of things. Now remember this is twenty-five years after Christ had gone back up into heaven. This wasn’t a thing that was going on when Jesus was there, although it happened then too. Verse 13, “Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, ‘In the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.’ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest were doing this. The evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?’ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.”

Now, tell me and tell the seven sons of Sceva that demons were a figment of their imagination. As the demon spoke to them and then jumped on them and left them all bleeding this one man with a demon possession (the Bible says he was, in fact, demon-possessed) came out and destroyed these seven men. And they ran out because they were operating in a realm they did not understand. They were Jews, apparently still. They were trying to use a magic incantation to drive out demons, but they didn’t have spiritual weapons. They didn’t have faith. They didn’t have holiness in their lives, maybe. They weren’t doing it in the name of Jesus, really. They were just trying to say the magic words over it. This wasn’t even a strong man. This was just a demon. This wasn’t satan himself. This wasn’t the strongman. This was one of satan’s stooges. What we are talking about here is something that we really shouldn’t take very lightly. That even the power of demons far exceeds anything that we understand. Satan’s helpers—a third of the angels that have fallen—far exceed anything that we understand.

In Mark 9:17, “A man in the crowd answered, ‘Teacher, I brought you my son who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and he becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they couldn’t do it.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Oh, unbelieving generation. How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.’ And then it says in verse 22, ‘From childhood,’ the father answered. ‘It has often thrown the boy into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, please take pity on us and help us.’ ‘If you can?’ Jesus asked. ‘Everything is possible for him who believes.’ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’ When Jesus saw the crowd running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. ‘You deaf and dumb spirit, I command you to come out of him and never enter him again.’ The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, ‘He’s dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why couldn’t we drive out the demon?’ He replied, ‘This kind can come out only by prayer.’” And some of the translations say, “And fasting.” Jesus acknowledges supernatural weapons. He said this kind is stronger than the other kinds. What kind? I don’t know. But, “this kind comes out only by prayer and fasting.”

There are some things that only supernatural weaponry can really deal with. I can ask you how much you really care about those things in your life that you are dealing with? Or how much you really care about people around you that you say you desire for them to come to Christ? “Some kinds come out only by prayer and fasting.” How seriously do you take Him? Are you prepared to use spiritual weapons to deal with the strongman in order to bind him up? You can’t take his possessions until you have bound him up. Tie up the strong man. Demolish the strongholds. Steal his possessions. Those things come by supernatural weapons.